Hospice Care of South Carolina (HCSC), a portfolio company of The Vistria Group, has acquired Agapé Hospice.
Agapé is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina and has more than 20 locations across the state. The buy of the company by HCSC creates one of the largest hospice care providers in South Carolina with more than 800 employees, 32 branches and more than 1,400 patients across all 46 counties in the state.
HCSC, led by CEO Troy Yarborough, was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Like the rest of the country, the population in South Carolina is aging. According to South Carolina’s Plan on Aging, the number of state residents age 60 and older is expected to double by 2030, exceeding 1.5 million.
“Hospice services represent an interdisciplinary and coordinated approach to caring for patients at the end of life, reducing the pain and symptoms of terminal illness for both patients and their families,” said David Schuppan, a senior partner at The Vistria Group. “We strongly believe that the combination of these two leading clinical organizations, with the most professional caregivers and the harnessing of leading technology, will enable the combined HCSC-Agapé to further enhance its commitment to the families of South Carolina and the Southeastern US.”
Vistria is an active investor in the hospice sector. In September 2017, the firm acquired St. Croix Hospice, an Oakdale, Minnesota-headquartered provider of hospice care to more than 2,000 patients a day through a network of 30 office locations in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Kansas. In August 2019, Vistria added-on to St. Croix with the buy of Hometown Hospice & Homecare, a Brookfield, Wisconsin-headquartered provider of hospice services.
“It is our mission to bring the highest quality care to patients and families throughout the Southeastern United States,” said Troy Yarborough, chief executive officer of HCSC. “We are thrilled at the opportunity to partner with a similarly high-performing, mission-driven organization that allows us to enhance our services in South Carolina.”
Chicago-headquartered Vistria invests in middle-market companies that are active in the healthcare, education, and financial services industries. Earlier this month, Vistria held a final hard-cap closing of Vistria Fund III LP with $1.1 billion of capital commitments. Fund III was oversubscribed and beat its original target of $800 million. The capital for the new fund includes a $100 million commitment from Vistria’s principals and operating partners. Together with several co-investment vehicles raised since 2014, Vistria now manages more than $3 billion of institutional capital.
© 2020 Private Equity Professional | January 30, 2020
